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What's Your Favorite Space at Packer?

When I was really young, my favorite place was the “roof gym” — just a great, simple, outdoor paved space on the top of Pratt Hall. I remember playing softball there in the springtime, which was the happiest time of the year for me.

As I got older, the Pratt Theatre became my favorite place because it was the scene of most of my best memories of Packer and my own greatest accomplishments. Many of us spent thousands of hours there doing amazing work.

The old St. Ann’s sanctuary was another favorite of ours — dark, a little scary, verboten, and irresistible!

Today, watching the kids play in the Garden, in the morning and after pick-up, is sheer joy. I want to freeze these wonderful moments in time.

I never cease to be amazed at how Packer has evolved. For instance, the school didn’t know what to do with St. Ann’s Church for years. Its transformation has been remarkable.

Last but not least: Blackburne Library has proven to be a very nice and inviting place to hold a party for alumni!

— Geoffrey Brewer ’82, P’26

President of the Alumni Association

When I was a student, my favorite place at Packer was the Chapel — and that’s still true today. It’s hard to deny the magic of the Chapel. It’s a space that comforts and inspires at the same time.

Back when I was a kid scampering around the halls of Packer, I loved the wooden stairs leading up from the Lower School classrooms [in the undercroft of St. Ann’s Church]. As I recall, these stairs were very narrow and spiral, and I believe at one point they were covered with a thin, wine-colored carpet. At the top of the stairs was a landing that led to the dance studio. But to the side, there was a door that opened up directly into the wide expanse of the church. In those days, the church was used only for special events like the Christmas pageant (an old-school Packer classic). To this day, I remember the thrill of walking through that side door and into the enormous church, with its imposing stained glass and seemingly endless rows of wooden pews.

— Jessica Rose ’91, P’26, P’29

My favorite space at Packer is discreet, small — a space you wouldn’t notice if you weren’t searching. There are two windows in the hallway leading from the Student Center to the main building, and through these windows you can see the Lower School Library.

More than any other space at Packer, the Ruth Blackburne Library always felt warm and inviting. As a student in the Upper School, I volunteered there, reading to kids and shelving books, watching kids discover the same love of reading that I had found. In high school, when I was having a bad day or feeling discouraged, I could always glance through the window in the hallway and smile at the learning and growing going on there.

This aspect of Packer will never change. Though the building changes — and I don’t always like it, or it doesn’t always feel familiar — the feeling of warmth and comfort won’t go away.